Freedom of choice and argument for assisted dying

Sir, – I should like to have seen the letter from Philip Kearns (July 14) on the same page as the one from John Cameron (July 13).

That two people both of strong Christian faith can be so diametrically opposed on assisted dying shows clearly that this is not a case of the religious backing the view that only God is supposed to tell us when to die while the nonreligious back assisted dying and the freedom of choice that it would entail.

There are religious people on both sides of the debate and many people of faith, Christian or otherwise, are very much in favour of showing compassion in allowing people to be helped to die when their suffering makes them want life to end. There is no compassion in maintaining suffering.

One of several things that confuse me about the view that only God has the right to decide whether we live or die is that people holding this view will often accept “interference” in the form of life-prolonging treatment, rather than letting a fatal disease run its course. Why? Another is that, as not all Scots are Christians and not all those who are Christians are opposed to assisted dying, why should we resist changing the law because of the views of this minority? When assisted dying becomes legal, people who are morally or religiously opposed to it can refuse to accept it for themselves, but that doesn’t mean it should not be available to others.

Moira Symons. Friends at the End, Woodlands Gardens, Dundee.